Can We See All Ends?

Last week, the news was flooded with the outcome of (and the outcry over) the Casey Anthony trial.  While I had not followed the case at all, it took only moments on Facebook to discover that the jury had returned a “not guilty” verdict – a fact that apparently enraged friends, acquaintances, and people across the nation.

Having not seen any of the coverage of the trial, much less being in the courtroom and seeing the evidence, I am in no position to say whether this young mother murdered her daughter or not.  I admit, I am appalled by the details of the case, but I am left to trust a legal system that can be imperfect but also seeks judgments based on evidence, not emotion.

What I am left to struggle with is the reactions triggered by the announcement of the verdict.  Status updates on Facebook began declaring that there had been no justice because Anthony was walking free.  News clips of protesting crowds included signs saying the jurors were guilty of murder.  There are even reports that Anthony is in danger of vigilante retribution upon her release.  It seems that, after a long and very visible media trial, the American people wanted to see some blood, some punishment, and having it denied to them has pushed many good people into a blood-thirsty rage.

I wonder, though, if this reaction is either good or proper.  Here, in a land where we rest secure in the pledge “innocent until proven guilty,” we apparently long for “innocent until we think you’re guilty.”  And when we think someone is wrong, we want punishment, swift and heavy.  When we feel it has been denied, we make our displeasure known.

The problem is, I think we are better than that.  God made us and calls us to be better than that…or at least more aware of what justice really is.  Just because someone is legally executed by the state does not make that killing a just one.  After all, Jesus was legally executed by the state in the most unjust killing in history.  Justice and punishment don’t always go hand-in-hand.  God’s justice often takes the path of mercy rather than punishment.

Moreover, Scripture tells us that vengeance is God’s, not humanity’s (Romans 12:19).  Why?  Because only God sees the entire picture.  Author J.R.R. Tolkien understood this, putting his thoughts into the mouth of the wise wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.  “Many that live deserve death.  And some that die deserve life.  Can you give it to them?  Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.  For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

Neither in this case, nor in any other, can we see all ends.  At the end of the day, we can merely pray for God to make this a better world, where no little girls die and good people don’t thirst for blood.  That’s a world worth seeking.  That’s a world worth praying for.

In Christ,

Adam